With guitar by his side he speaks of the healing power of port and brandy. "It's great for settling the nerves, " he says with a twinkle. He's seriously considering having one now, even though it's only 1pm. Of the record-promotetour cycle that is the lot of modern day musicians it is obvious the middle one is the biggest chore.

The media thing, you sense, just isn't his bag.

Dempsey walks the walk. He doesn't own property; feels like many 31-year-olds in that he has missed the boat somewhat.

Besides, all the cash he makes is reinvested into touring the world, which he has been doing almost non-stop since his 2004 album Seize The Day and the following year's Shotsmade him Christy Moore's heir apparent.

When he comes home he still stays with his dad in Donaghmede but he bases himself with his manager in Kilburn for the recording process. Sinead O'Connor's exhusband John Reynolds remains his sonic muse as he has done since a chance meeting at a party a few years ago. This was a world Dempsey felt no natural part of, but one which he is now extremely comfortable with.

"I was very shy, " he remembers, "just standing in the kitchen minding my beer so no one would rob it." Shortly after, Reynolds asked Dempsey round to his home studio where he laid down some of the tracks for Seize The Day. "I didn't know who he was, I was doing nothing else, going nowhere, round in circles." Reynolds got to work on it, adding strings, dub effects and other bits. O'Connor came round too and she was so blown away by 'It's All Good' that she recorded backing vocals as well as her own version. When Dempsey heard the results he "nearly cried. It was just beautiful".

Reynolds' London home is still Dempsey's musical base. There are regular sessions in the house with all sorts passing through.

"Everybody sings and harmonises.

The last time I was there, about a month ago, Annie Lennox was there. I was like 'Jaysus'. Eno likes the old Irish stuff that I'd be singing, the old ballads. . . he's sound as a pound, he is."

Dempsey has been spending a lot of time round Reynolds' house recently, recording his fourth fulllength album. It may surprise many of his fans to hear a new, more carnivorous, direction. "I wanted to make it different from the other ones, " he says. "I bumped into Shane MacGowan in the Heathrow airport bar. He was sitting there in his top hat having a few gargles and I was wearing a pair of shorts and t-shirt and he said I didn't look very rock 'n' roll and that I should get an electric guitar. So I bought one. I used to play a bit when I was younger, you know Thin Lizzy stuff. . . so that influenced a lot of the songs."

That's only half the story. While the album opens with a stadium rock number, it takes in some reggae, electronica and even a Dublin rap conversational piece. In other words, To Hell Or Barbados takes risks and lyrically it confirms Dempsey as one of the few mainstream Irish singer songwriters intelligent enough to draw present-day parallels from history.

There are songs about the Masai, songs about drugs, songs about reconnecting with your spirit.

Classic Damo fair at this stage, but with a musical twist that suggests a restless spirit. You sense there may be at least one more great album in him at some stage.

The title is taken from a book by Sean O'Callaghan about the forced migration of Catholics to the West Indies in Cromwellian Ireland. "They used to brand them and all, " he says. "I thought they deserved a song, those people. I read the book and felt I had to write a song about it. It's 200 years since they abolished slavery in the British empire so I also wanted to highlight the fact that it's still happening . . . be it sweat shops or sexual slavery in the Far East. That it is possible to sponsor kids." Dempsey himself sponsors a child through the World Vision charity but has a more direct solution for child sex crimes. "I'd take them out and shoot them, " he says, half-joking.

Being so blunt about social issues has always left Dempsey exposed to some of the more 'sophisticated' critics. It also puts him under self-imposed pressure to be worthy of his many champions. Some people "wished I stopped singing about the working classes of the world". His supporters, however, "felt that there wasn't anybody singing about Irish issues. There still isn't."

It is therefore natural that he is part of the 'Rock The Vote' campaign and Dempsey is unapologetic about his support for Sinn Fein.

"There's a turn towards outright capitalism in Ireland, multinational big business, corporate Ireland." he explains. "I know a good few [Sinn Fein politicians]. Larry O'Toole has done a lot of work in the community. When you see a politician who lives there and you see them around putting the work in it is attractive. Joe Higgins and those guys are true socialists rather than that fella who claimed he was a socialist. The cutest of them all, according to Haughey.

High praise indeed coming from that fellow. And his ratings keep going up. I just don't understand it, how does it happen? What's going through people's minds? A white collar criminal."

Dempsey won't be able to vote because he will be in Chicago. "It's a shame I can't vote. People died to get us the vote so it is very important. Then there's yer man Noel Dempsey who seems to be giving away all our gas fields on the west coast to Shell and all these multinationals. I'm sick about that. There should be a referendum or something before he goes and gives them all away. I wonder what they are getting for that."

Healthcare is another bugbear.

"Harney seems to have as much passion for it as Superman does for Kryptonite. There needs to be sweeping reforms there, with all the consultants and that."

Does he ever wonder if highlighting any of these issues ever actually changes anything? "I think I've warned a few people off drugs with songs like 'Ghosts of Overdoses', " he says. "I get slagged about singing about drugs but there's no one else writing about it. I just lay it on the line and if they don't like it, well I don't really care."

With that Dempsey smiles. "I think I'll have that port and brandy now."

'To Hell Or Barbados' is released on Sony BMG on 1 June Damien Dempsey starts a nationwide tour on 6 June